Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Overall good beer but a tad bit of a cluttered palate; the ginger, honey, and Belgian yeast ester all bombarde the taste en masse leading to a cluttered initial taste. The honey follow through is quite redeeming in its unique sweetness that pairs well with the tripel style. (274 characters)

Flavor: sweet baked bread, honey, faint citrus and wheat. The ginger is subdued and barely shows even in the aftertaste. A bit sweet, as expected.

Feel: Medium body; medium-low carbonation.

O: honey is subdued but pervasive, being evident in the nose and taste, and even seeming to lend a hand in coloration. Compared to my hopes for this beer, it is slightly high in sweetness and a bit low in complexity. (594 characters)

A good beer that comes as described. Love the balance of the ginger and honey as together it does help to deliver a nice earthy beer. The taste brings with it thoughts of this being a good beer to enjoy outside around nature. Good copper hue and a nice smooth finish. (267 characters)

Enjoyed from the 22 iz bottle. This tripel pours a golden honey colored amber, with a nice frothy white head of dissipating bubbles that finally rests to a thick ring and soapy layer with great looking lacing. Nose of sweet light honey malts, fresh grated ginger, clove and perhaps a dash of nutmeg, strong alcohol, and light caramel. Flavors are up front sweet, tons of sweet, honey and clove collide in the mid and back of this ale with more sweetness than you can shake a mash paddle at. Light hops and ginger come to the rear of the taste giving some needed roundness to this ale. Slick, smooth, highly carbonated mouth feel makes for an easy drinker while the aftertaste has a strong alcohol flavor that is a little over the top. Love most brews from this company, this one is solid, yet a bit overly expressive on the sweet side which is amazing to hear from me since I love sweet brews. (899 characters)

A - This is a good looking beer, with a clear, dark brown color with just a hint of red, a light tan head that forms up solidly, pillowing out quickly, with lacing as it goes down.

S - The honey is forward, as one might expect. A certain souring present, as well, which I peg as yeast. A certain booziness comes through, along with additional light hints of funk.

T - The first hit is of dried fruit, golden raisins in particular, but the mid-section blows up with a strong honey core. There is a certain burliness around the edges, but the alcohol is fairly well subdued. This is a sweet beer. The honey continues into the fade, with souring notes coming through in the finish. Light hints of leather and rubber, but nothing that detracts from the overall experience. The ginger notes, such as they are, play mostly in the close, and the other spice notes are similarly subdued. Age has significantly reduced their impact, I suspect.

M - Snappy carbonation keeps this beer from landing too heavy on the tongue. No real sign of drying here.

O - With a few years on it, the honey in this brew is front and center. The alcohol is well integrated, and the spices have become a subordinate, and complementary, experience to the main focus, which is the honey. The experience is not, however, a cloying one. This is a distinctly drinkable tripel. (1,360 characters)

Just tried this beer for the first time while watching the Super Bowl. I didn't notice much of the ginger flavor but that could have been because of the more flavorful foods I was eating. I definitely tasted the honey though. The honey flavor wasn't too sweet but just right. It reminded me of some nice meads I have had. This beer could easily be drunk in the winter or summer. It had a nice lightness to it despite the higher alcohol content. (444 characters)

A- A deep golden color. Nearly no head or lacing. However, if that's the worst part of a beer, I'm okay with that.

S- Smells like honey and I want to say pumpkin pie spice. Yum!

T- Tastes like honey and spices. One of the most unique tripels I've had. It's like Hopslam mixed with a good tripel.

M- What I'd expect from a fall-ish type beer. Not watery but not too thick. Goes down smooth.

Overall, I love this and wish I had gotten an extra bottle or five. It's on my list. I'm even thinking that I need to give it to my New Holland and tripel loving best friend for her upcoming birthday. (610 characters)

I'm a big fan of Belgian triples so I thought I'd take a chance on this American-made sister. Right from the start the aroma of the beer is a rather strange one. The mixture between sour and sweet. Something I did not expect from this beer. There is an overwhelming presence of ginger with a hint of what I can only describe as clover. Perhaps I received a bad battle but this beer was just about undrinkable. I'll pass. (420 characters)

Poured from a bomber into a British pint glass. Very little head with some lacing. Initially tastes fairly strongly of alcohol but then the sweetness kicks in. Not sure how the honey and ginger balance each other but it's definitely something I haven't had before and maybe would like to see in another style. I think this definitely is closer to a tripel than any other style though---definitely on the sweet side. (415 characters)

22oz bottle from Sprayberry Bottle Shop (Marietta, GA). 7.99. 2013 Vintage, bottled 6/19/13 if I deciphered their code correctly. Served in a New Holland chalice.

Pours a brilliant amber with almost two fingers of near white head. Darker that I expect in a tripel. The head fades to a thin cap and leaves small ocassional spots of lace.

Smells of funky yeast, clove, a little ginger and some sugary honey sweetness.

An interestingly sweet tripel. Still a good bit of yeast character but the honey and ginger is predominant with clove, pepper, bread and the faint tickle of alcohol trailing. Nice.

Slick, medium full body with a nice effervescence. Clove, ginger and honey linger on the palate for a pleasing sweet finish.

Almost more of a Belgian strong pale than a tripel but I like it. I often find the yeast a little too much in some tripels but this has a nice sweet balance to it. Another worthy offering from New Holland. Perhaps neither their best nor the perfect tripel but well worth at least one try. I'll most likely buy another bottle when it's released next year. (1,086 characters)

22 ounce bottle into chalice, 2012 vintage. Pours fairly clear orange copper color with a 1 finger dense off white head with good retention, that reduces to a lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with some moderate streaming carbonation. Aromas of pear, apple, lemon zest, honey, ginger, pepper, candi sugar, biscuit, floral, clove, and yeast earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of malt, ginger, and yeast ester notes; with solid strength. Taste of lemon, pear, apple, honey, ginger, pepper, biscuit, floral, candi sugar, light caramel, clove, and yeast earthiness. Lingering notes of light fruits, honey, ginger, biscuit, candi sugar, clove, light pepper, light caramel, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice balance and complexity of fruity/spicy ester flavors with the malt, honey, and ginger; with zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very good spiced Tripel. Very nice balance and complexity of malt, yeast ester, and spice flavors; and very smooth to sip on. A very enjoyable offering. (1,276 characters)

This is a good Tripel....American or Belgian. Looks good. Nice clear light amber color, small bubbly white head that fades fast, like most higher octane Belgians. Leaves a short lasting covering of the goblet, Ring around the edge lasts a lot longer. Some filmy and smotty lacing on the sides of the goblet.

Aroma is pretty solid as well. Light fruit (apples and pears) and Belgian yeast. Most of my favorite Tripels have a ripe-cheese-like aroma and flavor (most likely the yeast). This one has that aspect.

Taste is solid as well. Light fruit, Belgian yeast, spices (black pepper and a very subdued ginger presence. The honey is present as well....sweet and very smooth.

Mouthfeel is rich, the spicing is just right. The only flaw is a bit more alcohol presence than many of the good Belgian Tripels. The ginger might contribute to the "bite" I usually associate with alcohol.

Pours a golden yellow, perfectly clear, with a short lived head. Aroma of honey suckle candies, honey on bread, pretty much clover honey. In the flavor, a nice mix of honey, fresh tasting ginger and Belgian yeast. Pretty refreshing overall when cold, as there is little hint of alcohol. As it warms, honey and hot booze fight for dominance, but the ginger helps. I'd say this is best served chilled. Medium bodied feel, we'll carbonated and a bit sticky. Overall I thought this brew achieved what it was going for. Worth the try. (562 characters)

Poured out a coppery amber color with two fingers of cream colored froth that lasts for about three minutes, leaving behind medium amounts of lacing on the glass. Medium body and lower side of medium carbonation levels.

Compared to a Belgian Tripel... this beer has a definite emphasis on honey and ginger in both the aroma and flavor, but conversely seems to have lost a fair portion of the banana and clove character, and lacks that typical silky smooth mouthfeel. It's also rather hot with alcohol, and my instinct tells me that cellar aging to reduce the alcohol burn would most likely also drop the bananas and clove down even -further- to unacceptably minimal levels, so I'm not going to bother trying. I do like the prominent ginger and honey, however, it needs a higher level of the normal Tripel characteristics to support itself than this. (872 characters)

Poured from a 22 oz bottle into a pint glass. Pours a burnt amber, slightly copper color. Lots and lots of bubbles race to the top and a thin, off-white head remains around the edges of the glass on top of the beer, but not so much in the middle. Little lacing on the glass.

The initial smell is like a tripel with a strong honey overtone. Slightly spicy and fruity with hints of malt and sweetness along with a touch of alcohol. The first taste that hits you is a bit of peppery spice along with a slight tartness and sweetness from the fruit. White grape is the most noticeable. Very bready and yeasty - think biscuit with honey. The alcohol is noticeable and provides a strong warmth, especially as the glass goes on. Near the end of the tongue, the spice gets more harsh and the ginger finally comes out as pretty potent. Upon swallowing, the mouth is left with a bit of a burn and slight honey. The beer is volatile, but not as much as most other tripel ales. Medium body, somewhat creamy.

I'm a big fan of tripel ales. This one was pretty good. I like that fact that they tried something different and in some ways it worked wonderfully - the honey was a nice, sweet addition, and the ginger really came out in the end. However, the alcohol burn was more noticeable than it should be at 8.4% and I feel like it covered up many of the traditional tripel flavors that I was looking for (clove, banana, citrus, more spices). Overall, a good beer that I would have again. Definitely a sipping beer, though. (1,510 characters)

Pours a clear, amber color. 1/2 inch head of a white color. Good retention and good lacing. Smells of sweet malt, slight yeast, alcohol, and spice (all spice?). Fits the style of a Tripel. Mouth feel is smooth and clean, with an average carbonation. Tastes of yeast, sweet malt, slight biscuit, alcohol, slight spice, and a hint of citrus. Overall, good appearance, mouth feel, and body. (387 characters)

A rather different name and then I found out it was brewed with honey.

Poured very nicely. A dark brown body with medium head and some lacing.

Right away there was some good fruit without picking up the glass. Brown sugar or honey and caramel are present. The nose got weaker as the beer aired. The fruit seemed to go away.

Taste is sweet with a pretty good malt kick. Some spice and apricot finish out the mix for me. This beer is on the heavy side. Pretty rich. Very drinkable though. Oh yes, average carbonation. (519 characters)

A - Pours a beautiful clear amber, bordering on mahagony, with one and a half fingers of light tan head. Head has decent retention before fading to a cap, with small amounts of lacing.

S - A surprising amount of apple in the aroma, along with candi sugar, some yeast notes, a bit of grape and faint spice. Doesn't smell like the most traditional tripel, but not bad.

T - Belgian yeast up front, with apple, honey, grape, some candi sugar and dry spiciness mixed with ginger and apple cider on the finish. Definitely not very traditional, and the finish isn't really that appealing, but still an interesting twist.

M - Medium mouthfeel with a sweet start followed by a dry, somewhat earthy finish.

O - I appreciate the attempt at something different, but there any number of more traditional tripels that I would rather have. Glad I tried it, but probably wouldn't have this again. (884 characters)

A: Amber leaning to dark, clear with a few bubbles rising to a small ivory head that disappears fast. Poor retention & next to nothing for lace. It is a nice color, but too dark for style. Not really a “Belgian” look.

S: Honey – but not all that strong and not much for character. Narrowly sweet, light-colored honey rather than dark, floral, rich honey. Minimal anything else. Hint of dark fruit. Hint of toffee sweet & doughy malt. That is about it – weak & not at all a triple nose. Lacking a Belgian / yeast component most of all.

T: More going on here. Honey sweetness opens the show with just hint of floral character. Muted ginger and some softly peppery yeast / alcohol spice follow right behind. Some doughy & sweet toffee/dark caramel malts show up through the middle. Also jumping in at the middle are some herbal & grassy hops with rather large bittering. Some honey & floral sweetness re-emerges towards the end. Hops / yeast get earthy in the finish.

M: Just a bit over medium body, but it lays heavier due to low & soft carbonation,. A bit fuller than usual for style. Some sticky sugars and hop tannins for texture. Despite initial softness and sweetness it is fairly attenuated, and it does go firmly drying mostly from hops Slight soapiness lingers late in the finish.

D: Mead-like, more a braggot than a triple. Too dark for style and lacking in Belgian character. It does have some alright stuff going on, but it doesn’t find a groove and components do not really meld. A fair drink, but out of style and disjointedness hurts enjoy-ability. (1,574 characters)

Bought a Joe Lewis at a local liquor store for around four dollars. This tripel pours a dark amber color with about a finger of biscuit colored head which dissipates quickly. The first sip is a little much, with the sweetness of honey and citric like hop flavor. As it warms, the flavor mellows and it gets much better. Good beer, but for my money their Dragon's Milk is mo' betta. I'd go with that one. (403 characters)

This beer poured out as a really nice looking gold color with a thin white head on top. The smell of the beer was sweet from all the honey that was in it. The beer hardly smelled like a Tripel. The taste of the beer was very nice in my opinion. It reminded me more of a Braggot Ale than a tripel. The mouthfeel had a good amount of body to it and a creamy feel. Overall this beer was very nice I thought. It's something I would buy again for sure. (447 characters)

A - It pours a transparent amber, producing a thin white head that leaves great lacing in its wake.

S - The honey is very pronounced. It smells sweet and pleasantly fruity.

T - Again, the sweetness of the honey is present at first, followed by a warm nutty aftertaste. Unfortunately, I don't get the ginger at all, which is completely fine with me (although, since NH says it's brewed with ginger I would've liked it to be there).

M - Medium bodied and creamy on the palate. There is virtually no warmth from the booze either.

O - I think this is a pretty interesting brew. The honey seems to have added some complexity and weight to the typical notes you expect from a tripel. Obviously, this wouldn't be a good thing to some, but I really appreciate that this is unique. I would certainly grab another one. (812 characters)

T: Taste is....interesting. Starts off nice with a nice Belgian yeast taste and apple. Then the honey takes over from there. Once the beer goes down, there's a really interesting, cream/honey tasting aftertaste that sticks around for awhile. Somehow the honey seems to have its place in a tripel.

M: A tad heavy, but not too bad. Goes down very, very nice as you would expect from a Belgian.

O: Nice mixture between a traditional tripel and something different. Truly an experiment. I think the honey on the back end is a bit too much, but if they toned it down, it would be quite nice. Got it on sale for $5, so it's all good. (822 characters)